CCJS105 - Exam 1 Quiz Review
What is it called when actus reus and mens rea are both present?
Concurrence
What is victim-offender overlap?
The victim-offender overlap refers to the group of people who have both been victims of crime and offenders
What does it mean that criminological theory is "falsifiable"?
Theory should generate predictions that can be tested against data (and possibly falsified or not empirically supported)
What are some bad consequences of mass incarceration?
-High cost -Recidivism -No significant deterrence effect
According to Routine Activities Theory, what needs to come together for a crime to occur?
-Lack of capable guardian -Motivated offender -Suitable target
Who are the 3 actors involved in a restorative justice facilitation?
-Victim -Offender -Community members
What is victim facilitation?
-When the victim plays a role in creating the opportunity for victimization (Ex. leaving your car keys in your car and someone steals your car)
What is the dark figure of crime?
Crimes that are not reported to the authorities
Chapter 9
*Present-day psychological theories of crime acknowledge that sociological factors have an influence on human behavior.* ---True *We are consciously aware of the messages that channel through our autonomic nervous system.* ---False *People who are chronically under aroused have a high risk for criminal activity* ---True *Criminals typically differ from non-criminals on verbal IQ* ---True *In Freud's model of personality, we are all born moral beings, but some individuals go on to learn criminal behavior through socialization.* ---False *Families headed by single mothers with children fathered by different men were found to put offspring in the least amount of risk for antisocial behavior.* ---False *Which of the following personality traits is associated with an increased risk of antisocial behavior?* ---Sensation -seeking *That offenders score lower on the verbal intelligence subscale than the overall population, but that no such disparity is found on the performance intelligence subscale, is referred to as _____.* ---Intellectual imbalance *Traits refer to:* ---the different components of a person's personality *The most common explanation for the link between IQ and criminality is that:* ---the relationship works via poor school performance *The PCL-R is:* ---the most widely used measure of psychopathy *David Wechsler is credited with:* ---defining the concept of "intelligence" *The RAS performs what function? ---it regulated neurological arousal *____ refers to people's varying tendencies to act on matters without giving much thought to the consequences.* ---impulsiveness *The National Academy of Sciences and the American Psychological Association's Task Force have concluded that IQ tests are:* ---not biased against any group *Which of the following theories was the source of the concept of thinking errors?* ---Lifestyle theory *In Freud's conception of personality, the _____ is responsible for balancing a person's selfish immoral desires with the moral and social rules they have internalized.* ---Ego *Jimmy is walking through a store, and gets the sudden urge to push down the clerk and run out of the store with a stereo without paying. While he doesn't follow through on this impulse, the thought of doing so might best be identified as originating in his _____.* ---id *While visiting a local park, Johnny's friends are having a good time, but he is bored; to add some excitement, he starts vandalizing park benches. Johnny's behavior is most consistent with a(n):* ---under aroused RAS *____ refers to an individual's set of relatively enduring and functionally integrated psychological characteristics.* ---personality *___ conditioning is responsible for the "gut level" response we have to certain stimuli, as with a shoplifter feeling his heart race when he walks into a store.* ---Classical
Criminology is _____, meaning researchers from different fields contribute to the study of crime.
-Interdisciplinary
What acts are crimes simply because they are prohibited by law?
Mala prohibita
_____ can best capture victimless crimes.
Self-reported data
Chapter 5
*A background crime refers to everything that a person is or has experienced* ---True *"Human agency" is the concept that maintains humans have the capacity and moral responsibility to make moral choices regardless of internal or external constraints.* ---True *Zweckrationalitat is related to a value such as honor, or to duty to some revered entity (one's nation, group, God) or idea (patriotism, ideology, religion), which may appear to observers to be antithetical to instrumental rationality.* ---False *Routine activities are defined as recurrent and prevalent activities which provide for basic population and individual needs.* ---True *The most glaring criticism of rational choice and routine activities theory is rationality* ---True *Anelpis is a Greek term meaning "without peace" used to explain the kind of psychology underlying the cultural degradation that cultural criminologists perceive.* ---False *Secondary emotions have been enormously useful in the evolution of our species and consist of anger, fear, disgust, and joy.* ---False *Environmental design is primarily concerned with defensible space, defined as a model for residential environments which inhibit crime by creating the physical expression of a social fabric that defends itself.* ---True *Choose the two theories that are based on neoclassical ideas of human nature.* ---rational choice theory *_____________ is the constellation of opportunities, costs, and benefits attaching to particular kinds of crime.* ---Choice structuring *_______ are persons that offenders view as vulnerable or attractive who possess something they want or are objects they want to possess.* ---suitable targets *According to ____________ crime is the result of motivated offenders meeting suitable targets that lack capable guardians.* ---Routine activity theory *Emotion is seen as intervening between a(n) ________ and an action.* ---Perception *__________ is an important crime-preventing social emotion because it channels helping behavior.* ---Empathy
Chapter 4
*Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham are associated with the arguments of biological positivism.* ---False *The theorists from the classical school of criminology had a strong interest in making punishment more just and humane.* ---True *Executing an offender in order to prevent others from committing the same crime is an example of general deterrence.* ---True *Legal sanctions have a greater deterrent effect on expressive crimes than on instrumental crimes.* ---False *The principle of utility:* ---Emphasizes the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people *Hedonism:* ---A doctrine that the achievement of happiness is the main goal in life *Who wrote On Crimes and Punishments, an impassioned plea to humanize and rationalize the law and make punishment more just and reasonable?* ---Cesare Beccaria *Cartographic criminologists such as Quetelet are most concerned with:* ---where and when crime is most prevalent *_____ is the commission of a crime after having been previously punished for another crime.* ---Recidivism *Deterrence prevents crime through the use of _____.* ---Punishment *Beccaria and Bentham are from which school of thought?* ---Classical *The idea that behavior is governed by its consequences is most central to which concept?* ---Deterrence *Who wrote the book Criminal Man, which was considered to be the first book ever devoted solely to the causes of criminality?* ---Cesare Lombroso *A person is given a harsh prison sentence, with the reasoning that the penalty will prevent that individual from committing crimes in the future. This approach is reflective of the concept of _____ deterrence.* ---Specific *The idea that crime can be prevented by increasing capable guardianship through police patrols, neighborhood vigilance, or other means is most closely associated with which theory?* ---Routine activities theory *The idea that punitive policies should be designed to protect society from criminal predation is most consistent with the concept of:* ---Social defense *_____ is the idea that criminals are biologically inferior beings belonging to an earlier stage of evolution.* ---Atavism *A homeless individual continues to commit petty crimes in order to gain access to free shelter and meals through incarceration. This can be explained by which of the following concepts?* ---The contrast effect *Which of the following is a fact that might be used to support the argument that the United States is soft on crime relative to other countries?* ---the country does not use corporal punishment such as lashing or amputation
Chapter 1
*Criminality is a trait that exists on a continuum.* ---True *Theories can help us make sense of a diversity of seemingly unrelated facts and propositions.* ---True *Crimes that are universally condemned are mala prohibita.* ---False *Gender has consistently been found to be a strong correlate of crime.* ---True *The indirect costs of crime are easily quantifiable.* ---False *Murder is an example of which category of criminal offenses?* ---Mala in se *Prostitution is an example of which category of criminal offenses?* ---Mala prohibita *A constrained vision views human nature as being formed anew in different cultures.* ---False *___________________ _is a continuously distributed trait which is a combination of other continuously distributed traits that signal the willingness to commit harmful acts such as the use of force, fraud or guile to deprive others of their lives, limbs or property for personal gain.* ---Criminality *All of the following are considered criteria for judging merits of a theory EXCEPT:* ---Complexity *_______________ are statements about relationships between and among factors that we expect to find based on the logic of our theories.* ---hypothesis
What is Foreground and Background of crime? How are they different?
*Foreground* - the immediate situation and the thought processes of the individual criminal at the time of the crime *Background* - Everything that person is or has experienced that may have led them to think that way
Chapter 2
*Nearly all index crimes are mala in se offenses.* ---True *While NIBRS was intended to replace the UCR, it has not yet been widely adopted by agencies.* ---True *Part I offenses are also referred to as "index crimes."* ---True *One benefit of the NCVS is that it can provide us with an idea of the prevalence of crimes committed against commercial establishments.* ---False *The "crime rate" is typically calculated by dividing the number of crimes by the population in a given area, and then multiplying by 100,000.* ---True *As it relates to the UCR, the practice of only reporting the most serious offense committed in a given incident is known as the:* ---Hierarchy rule *Which of the following was intended to collect data from police agencies, but has not yet been widely adopted?* ---NIBRS *The "dark figure of crime" refers to crimes which:* ---Never come to light *Self-report studies are a good source of information on _______.* ---Drug use *Which of the following would be classified as a Part I crime according to the UCR?* ---Robbery *If the police have identified a suspect and have enough evidence to support arrest, but he or she could not be taken into custody, the crime is considered:* ---Cleared by exceptional means *Which of the following allows criminologists to collect data for themselves, without having to rely on government sources?* --- Self-reported surveys *_______ has the highest clearance rate.* ---murder *Which measure obtains the most accurate estimate of serious crimes such as murder?* ---UCR *NIBRS is different from the UCR in that it:* ---provides more details on each incident *_____ allow(s) researchers to correlate a variety of characteristics of responses, such as the traits of empathy and sensation seeking, with their admitted offenses* ---Self-reported surveys *The crime data provides by the UCR _______ the extent of crime in the United States.* ---significantly under estimates *Which of the following is a weakness of the NCVS?* ---it is subjected to memory lapses *The _______ is a report issued each year by the FBI containing the results of investigations carried out by its Financial Crimes Section.* ---Financial crime report *Which of the following is not believed to be a contributing factor to the recent drop in the homicide rate?* ---a significant reduction in gun ownership
Chapter 3
*The elderly are one of the highest risk groups for victimization by violent crime.* ---False *Being a university professor is one of the safest occupations in the United States.* ---True *Until fairly recently, the victim was the forgotten party in the criminal justice system.* ---True *Criminologists view victims as passive players who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.* ---False *While the Crime Victim's Bill of Rights passed by the senate only applies to federal violent crimes, all 50 states now have established programs providing similar rights.* ---True *Which of the following is true of victimization?* ---The risk factors for victimization is similar to those of offending *_____ are the routine patterned activities that people engage in on a daily basis, both obligatory (e.g., work-related) and optional (e.g., recreational).* ---Lifestyle *For the majority of crime victims, the worst consequences are _____.* ---Psychological *Which of the following is true of contemporary victims' rights provisions in the United States?* ---the federal government and all 50 states have recently taken steps to provide victims' rights *Taxi drivers are:* ---most likely to be victimized *University professors are:* ---have the lowest risk for victimization *The presence of a stepfather is the strongest predictor that _____ will be _____.* ---Girls;molested *The absence of a father is the strongest predictor that _____ will be _____.* ---Boys;molested *Von Hentig is credited with _____ theory.* ---victims precipitation *Compared to females, males are more likely to be:* ---victims of aggravated assault *Which of the following is the most common cause for intimate partner violence?* ---male jealousy *In a phenomenon known as _____, those who have been victimized at the hands of a trusted individual may begin to engage in risk-taking and provocative behavior.* ---traumatic sexualization *Studies have found that domestic violence is most often committed by males who:* ---are competitively disadvantaged *Family violence is the most prevalent type of domestic violence victimization.* ---True *______ of all female murders in the United States are committed by intimate partners.* ---1/3
According to deterrence theory, what 3 elements are important to deter crime?
-Certain -Swift -Severe
What are the four strongest correlates of crime?
-Gender -Age -Race -Socio-economic status
According to Freud, what are the three components of human personality?
-id -ego -superego
What are some problems with self-report survey?
-reply on convenience samples -fail to adequately measure serious crime -susceptible to dishonesty of respondents
How is restorative justice different from tradition criminal justice process?
-victims have more rights -Emphasis in repairing harm -Goal is transformation
Which concept, incorporated into Lombroso's explanation for criminal behavior, describes organisms' resemblance to ancestral forms of life?
Atavism
In order to find out factors that causes criminal behavior, criminologist should first_______
Identify correlates of crime
What does the age-crime curve look like?
Offending increases in early adolescences, peak in mid- to late-adolescences, and steadily declines in early adulthood and beyond
What are 3 examples of index crimes?
Part I index: Violent- homicide, rape, aggravated assault, robbery Property - burglary, larceny/theft, auto-theft, arson Part II index: Other crimes
What is the official statistical source of crime rates?
Uniform Crime Reports (UCR)
Typically, what dictates how the criminal justice system punishes offenders?
Whatever the dominating theory of the cause of crime is at the time.
What is the age-crime conundrum?
most adult offenders used to be juvenile delinquents, but most juvenile offenders do not become adult offenders